Skip compares the experiences of these legendary singers to artists of all kinds in his Blog post of 2-20-2015 http://storypaintings.blogspot.com/2015/02/20-feet-from-stardom.html . I have selected a few paragraphs that were most important to me. Please take time to read the entire article at the link above.
"The other night, we watched the movie "20 Feet from Stardom". This is
an Oscar-winning documentary film that focuses on background singers who
stand, literally, 20 feet from the star of the show. It features a few
legendary singers like Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, the Waters family,
and Lisa Fischer, as well as the emerging artist, Judith Hill. It's a
powerful discussion of the music industry, artists clawing their way to
the top, and what their definition of "the top" is. I recommend the New York Times review for an in-depth discussion of the film.
Although the focus is on singers, the discussion is really about finding success. And in this way, it is directly applicable to theater, visual art, and many other fields of endeavor. It presents us with several women with phenomenal voices. They live to sing, and the things they can do with their voices will bring tears to your eyes: the power, spirit, joy, and pain are unbelievably rich, sometimes raw, sometimes both. They are incredibly powerful artists who can sing better than many (most?) big-name stars. Yet none of them became a music star in her own right.........
........part of making it to the "star" level is luck. Pure and simple: being in the right place at the right time, with the right sound, and being heard by the right person, is critical. All the big stars, if they're honest, will tell you that. And most of them are a bit nervous, because they know that there are lots of people out there with equal or better talent that have not been discovered yet, and they could be dethroned by the Next Big Thing.
But the major factor in whether an artist makes it to the top is the individual artist's character. Talent and ability is the foundation, of course: if you don't have the pipes, you're not going to be a singer. Having the will and the drive is the difference between the club singer and the star. In the film, more than one person mentioned the "killer instinct" - that ability to go for the jugular when necessary, and putting the goal of being a star singer above all other goals. But being the star means making lots of tradeoffs. I've seen that first-hand in other career fields when people put their career first. Families and relationships often pay the price. ..........
And this translates directly to my own experience with art. I've got a pretty good set of artistic pipes with my ability to paint and draw. I've got things that I want (need) to say with those skills. I tried pursuing the "successful artist" standard - which is generally defined as selling your work through lots of galleries, making lots of money doing it, and so on. Turned out it wasn't for me. The things I wanted to paint didn't sell, and the things that sold, I didn't want to paint. I was like a folk singer being told that I had to record pop songs if I wanted to be a "success". So, like Lisa, I redefined what success meant to me. I'm never going to have a retrospective exhibit at the Met and none of my works will ever sell at a Sotheby's auction. I'll be the painter's equivalent of a backup singer. And I'm really cool with that."
Although the focus is on singers, the discussion is really about finding success. And in this way, it is directly applicable to theater, visual art, and many other fields of endeavor. It presents us with several women with phenomenal voices. They live to sing, and the things they can do with their voices will bring tears to your eyes: the power, spirit, joy, and pain are unbelievably rich, sometimes raw, sometimes both. They are incredibly powerful artists who can sing better than many (most?) big-name stars. Yet none of them became a music star in her own right.........
........part of making it to the "star" level is luck. Pure and simple: being in the right place at the right time, with the right sound, and being heard by the right person, is critical. All the big stars, if they're honest, will tell you that. And most of them are a bit nervous, because they know that there are lots of people out there with equal or better talent that have not been discovered yet, and they could be dethroned by the Next Big Thing.
But the major factor in whether an artist makes it to the top is the individual artist's character. Talent and ability is the foundation, of course: if you don't have the pipes, you're not going to be a singer. Having the will and the drive is the difference between the club singer and the star. In the film, more than one person mentioned the "killer instinct" - that ability to go for the jugular when necessary, and putting the goal of being a star singer above all other goals. But being the star means making lots of tradeoffs. I've seen that first-hand in other career fields when people put their career first. Families and relationships often pay the price. ..........
And this translates directly to my own experience with art. I've got a pretty good set of artistic pipes with my ability to paint and draw. I've got things that I want (need) to say with those skills. I tried pursuing the "successful artist" standard - which is generally defined as selling your work through lots of galleries, making lots of money doing it, and so on. Turned out it wasn't for me. The things I wanted to paint didn't sell, and the things that sold, I didn't want to paint. I was like a folk singer being told that I had to record pop songs if I wanted to be a "success". So, like Lisa, I redefined what success meant to me. I'm never going to have a retrospective exhibit at the Met and none of my works will ever sell at a Sotheby's auction. I'll be the painter's equivalent of a backup singer. And I'm really cool with that."
No comments:
Post a Comment